08. Northeast NC Phelps: Tyrrell and Chowan Counties, NC Phelps

REVISED 12/14/2018

Lineages displayed here were provided by individual ydna kit members, or their representatives, who are solely responsible for providing any ethical or copyright credits..

Phelps of Chowan and Tyrrell Counties, NC (with origins possibly in Md.)

Phelps of this area should investigate the Phelps of Northeast NC project

For additional information, see:

• A repository for wills and deeds pertaining to the Phelps families of northeastern North Carolina Phelps Research In Northeastern North Carolina

• The research site Phelps of NE NC https://sites.google.com/site/phelpsnortheastnc/home

• A Repository of Research on Southern Phelps Families of the 18th and 19th Centuries http://pages.suddenlink.net/phelpsdna/Southern_Phelps_Research/

• Downloadable files at the end of this page.

• Dont overlook the .08 subpage about "The Cuthbert Phelps Family of Early Maryland and North Carolina" by Thomas Warren Crowder and Phyllis (Hogatt) Crowder, The Genealogist, Vol 23, No. 1, Spring 2009)

Visit the related Phelps YDNA Project here.

This page contains the following information:

• Thoughts on STRs and SNPs to untangle this Phelps group.

• Lineages

• Probable Irish Origin and Related yDNA Analysis.

• Missing records of Washington, Tyrrell and Bertie counties

• "A working theory for the heritage of these Phelps families" by Cathy Roberts

Thoughts on STRs and SNPs to untangle this Phelps group

By Doug Phelps, Phelps yDNA project admin 7/7/2018

In 2018 I worked very hard to figure a way to use the str markers of these tested descendants in a way that would unravel the tree of these Phelps going back to NE NC. As I see it, they are all are trying to see who descended from whom back to the 1700s… perhaps even further. As written here records are very hard to come by. We also should wonder if Cuthbert was the only patriarch there or were there other Phelps who came to America and were related somehow in the “old country” Try as I might (and I keep trying), at this point I don’t feel confident at all using their STR markers – even if all tested at 111. SNP testing is unfortunately your only realistic option to do that – and there are no ironclad promises for that either. Let me try to explain.

1. Str markers can mutate backwards (like 14 back to 13) or even jump in value more than one (like 12 to 14 thus indicate a strong GD but yet a single generation). SNPs mutate once forever and are handed down forever.

2. SNPs began with the dawn of mankind. They can be used to define ancient peoples and where they came from. As more SNPs mutated in ancient people to the present time we can see branches of ancient peoples, down all the way to each of us. The goal is thus defining YOUR most recent “terminal SNP(s)”. Your terminal snp defines all those very close men relatives no further back than 150 years +/- So when we see your SNPs we see some that started in the dawn of mankind, right down to the present time. With STRs even at 111 we have to go BACKwards in time, not having any idea of what they were before genealogy time.

3. So when we do a bigY SNP test against TWO of their Phelps, we are looking for which SNPs they have in common (which indicate about how far back was the common ancestor) and we also are looking for those “private” snps that each of the two men had since that common ancestor. I would expect anywhere from 0 to 4 of these private snps going back to a common ancestor (and also should see his SNPs) in the 1700s +/-. Those personal snps define each man’s “terminal SNPs” THEN others can test for just those snps $39 or $19 at Yseq.com to see which is youngest or oldest – thus aging the time of the branch IF one has at least one matching SNP. They have to be technically valid SNPS and they have to be NAMED in order to be able to tested. I feel confident that FTDNA's Big Y report will NOT provide that for people working on NEW genealogy SNP levels. IMO, at best, they will provide simply some unnamed snps that are not technicall checked out. A $49 analysis at Yfull.com provides exactly what is needed and provides a related tree even down to recent times. BUT it takes TWO Big Y tests analyzed at Yfull.

Lineages

Lineages displayed here were provided by individual ydna kit members, or their representatives, who are solely responsible for providing any ethical or copyright credits..

Yellow indicated doubt or no proof

Green indicates a triangulation to a common ancestor using YDNA and genealogy

(UNDER DEVELOPMENT) SNP tree based on the Big Y analysis at Yfull at this site

TMRCA= Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor. YBP=Years Before Present

Common ancestor with R-Z16436 Equivalents: Z16445 BY43276 Z16444 Z16440 Y38520, formed 1450 ybp, TMRCA 950 ybpinfo

Yfull id YF01763 Ireland FTDNA 228288 Eight private, at least acceptable, snps. John Prendergast, b ME 1849, d. Il, 1909 [Irish origin] Kit 228288 (YFULL 1763) From a Big Y test: R-z16442 but negative for > R-BY17802 See research on this kit below: Irish origin and Related ydna Analysis.

Common ancestor with R-BY17802 formed 950 ybp, TMRCA 475 ybpinfo (click for details)

Yfull id YF16402, FTDNA 471431 Yfull private snps not yet clarified: BY194661/Y162651 BY194780/Y162693

1. Cuthbert Phelps b. abt. 1600 unk.; d. prob. bef. 1862; m. Mary [—?—] by 1624

These Phelps are CDY 39-39 and 39-40

1. Seth Phelps b bef 1755 Tyrrell co, NC d. bef 1823 Tyrrell Co, NC.

2. Eby Phelps b 1785-1790 Tyrrell Co, NC., d. bef July 26 1836 Tyrrell Co, NC.

3. Edmond Bateman b. 9/26/1811 Tyrrell Co, NC, d. 9/26/1870 Tyrrell Co, NC

4. Joseph Bateman b. 3/21/1845 Soundside, Tyrrell Co, NC. d. 2/11/1921 Tyrrell Co, NC

| 5. James Henry /Bateman b. 1/5/1880 Soundside, Tyrrell Co, NC. d. 1/5/1880 Columbia, Tyrrell Co, NC

| 6. Rodney Swain Bateman b. 2/12/1910 Columbia, Tyrrell Co, NC. d 4/4/2005 Columbia, Tyrrell Co, NC.

| Descendant Kit 170252 111 markers CDY 39-40 From a Big Y test : R-z16442 > R-BY17802

4. Enoch Bateman b. 17 Nov 1847 Tyrrell Co, NC. d. 17 Feb 1934 Tyrrell Co, NC

5. Emanuel Bateman b. 29 Jan 1889 Tyrrell Co, NC. d. 5 Jul 1965 Virginia

Descendant Kit 220394 CDY 39-39

The following Six Phelps all have CDY 39-40

1. John Prendergast, b ME 1849, d. Il, 1909 [Irish origin] Kit 228288 (YFULL 1763) From a Big Y test: R-z16442 but negative for > R-BY17802 See research on this kit below: Irish origin and Related ydna Analysis.

These Three Phelps show movement to Illinois

1. movement to Salem, Marion Co (founded 1823), Illinois

The following Phelps all have CDY 40-40

This kit also shows movement to Mt. Vernon, Illinois, very close to Salem, Illinois as seen in those above, even though not having CDY 39-40

Cuthbert Phelps Sr.

Cuthbert Phelps Jr

Godfrey Phelps

Godfrey Phelps Jr

**Amos Phelps Had proof but cannot find it. See note below.

Silas Phelps

James Phelps

Andrew Lafayette Phelps b. 1853 Tennessee d. 1914 Mt. Vernon, Illinois

James Walter Phelps b.12/26/1877 Mt. Vernon, Illinois, d. 12/1/1944 Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Neal Phelps b. 12/4/1905 Mt. Vernon Illinois, d 1986 Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Descendant Kit 285295 37 str markers CDY 40-40

** Provided by member 220418: In the Crowder article that traces the descendants of Cuthbert Phelps ("The Cuthbert Phelps Family of Early Maryland and North Carolina" by Thomas Warren Crowder and Phyllis (Hogatt) Crowder, The Genealogist, Vol 23, No. 1, Spring 2009) they show the same first four generations that you do. However, in a footnote (no. 141, p. 21) they refer to the will of Godfrey Phelps [Jr.] dated 16 October 1807 that they say names five sons: i.e., Asa, Joseph, John, Jesse, Derius [Darius.] I am curious as to the evidence you have that shows he had another son named Amos who was not named in his will. Or, does the Crowder lineage refer to a different Godfrey Phelps Jr than your line? (As I believe that my line descends from Cuthbert Phelps as well, I am very interesed in finding other proven lines of descent.)

1. Micajah Phelps b.ca 1805 Washington County, NC. d.1879 Washington County, NC. m. Eveline/Evelina.

2. Bailey Phelps

2. Amariah Phelps

2. John Phelps, b. ca 1830 Washington County, NC. d. bef 9/18/1878 (will date). m. likely Elizabeth

3. John Caleb Phelps/JC Phelps/John C. Phelps b. 12/16/1860, Washington County, NC. d. 4/13/1934, Washington Co., NC. m. Frances Ann Brickhouse

4. James Warren Phelps

4. Joseph E. Phelps

4. Seaton Monroe Phelps

4. Dennis Harrison Phelps

4. Ernest Caleb Phelps.

4. Milton Claude Phelps, b. Feb 25, 1905 in Washington County, NC. d. May 13, 1980, Cherry, Washington County, NC. m. Alethia Picolia Allen

5. Son Kit 100136 YFULL# YF15891 CDY 40-40 From a Big Y test: R-z16442 > R-BY17802

1. James Phelps/Felps (Probable patriarch) b. unknown; d. bet 1770-1776 (will dated 1768) Chowan Co, NC m. Mary (Yellow indicates Probable).

2. Thomas Phelps b.bef 1760

2 . Aaron Phelps b. Chowan Co, NC res Dobbs Co, NC 1769

2. William Phelps b. Chowan Co, NC res Dobbs Co, NC 1766 & 1769

2. Abraham Phelps b.bef 1753

2. Ann Phelps b.bef 1760 m.1772 Chowan Co., NC to William Speight

2. Noah Phelps b. bef 1760

2. Moses Phelps b. bef 1751 Chowan Co, NC; d. aft 1794 unknown location m. Miriam

3. James Stewart Phelps b. bef. 1775 OR 1770 NC; in Edgefield Co, SC and Lowndes CO, Ala. D. abt 1851, age 76 Yellow Shank, Butler Co, Alabama;

| 4. James Phelps b. 1810 Edgefeld Co, SC

| 4. Arden Joseph Phelps b. 1810 Edgefield Co, SC D. abt 1846 Butler Co, SC.

| 4. George Washington Terrell Phelps b. 1811 Edgefield County, South Carolina.

| 5. David E. Terrell Phelps b.1851 Butler Co., AL

| 6. Jacob Phelps b.1881, AL d.1963 Butler Co., AL

| 7. Cecil Phelps

| Kit 508293 Big Y test R-z16442 > R-BY17802

| 4. John Phelps. b. abt 1820 SC d. 1895 New London, Union Co, SC

| 4. Lorenzo Dow Phelps b. 1823 Edgefield Co. SC. ; d. 1892 Butler Co, Ala

| 4. Edward Phelps b.1825, AL

3. Four more children

3. Enoch S. Phelps b. abt 1774 NC; res by 1799-Edgefield Co, SC; res by 1823-Dallas Co., AL; d.1848 in Newton Co, MS

4. Jonah Josiah Phelps b. 1797. (Yellow indicates doubt)_

4. Elizabeth Phelps b.1799, Edgefield Co., SC d.27 Apr 1863, Beech Springs, Neshoba Co., MS m. William P. Jones

5. Enoch Sprewell Jones b.23 Feb 1822 Dallas Co., AL d.20 Jul 1903, Stateline, MS

4. ? Phelps b. 1800 in Edgefield County, South Carolina

4. Rev Enoch Spruill Sylvester Phelps.

4 Phelps b. 1807 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.

4. John Long Phelps b.20 Mar 1809, Edgefield Co., SC d.1884, TX

4 ? Phelps b. 1810 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.

4. ? Phelps b. 1813 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.

4. (Rev) Joseph Downing Phelps b. 1 Jan 1814, Edgefield, SC, d. 10 Dec 1889, Tyler Co., TX

5. Downing S. Phelps b. 10 Dec 1867, Tyler Co., TX, d. 17 Apr 1918, in LA

6. Joseph Daniel Phelps b. 16 Aug 1894, Tyler Co., TX

7. Nolan O Phelps b.1921, LA died 2002 Galveston Co., TX

8.Nolan (Phelps) Spina d.2007 Mtgy Co., TX

Participant Kit 166082 CDY 40-40

4. Feruba Huldah Phelps b.30 Mar 1818, Edgefield Co., SC d.03 Feb 1873

4. Isiah Marshall Phelps b.1821, Edgefield Co., SC d.24 Feb 1899, Pike Co., MS

4. James Stewart Phelps b.1824, Dallas Co., AL d.bef 01 Jun 1870, MS

1. Henry Phelps, B. abt 1780, most likely Tyrrell Cty, NC. D. before August 1835, Washington Cty, NC

2. Jordan H. Phelps, B. abt. 1812, Washington County, NC D. before 25 July 1878, Washington Cty, NC., m. Ann Britania Ambrose

3. Hezekiah Henderson Phelps. B. abt 1844 Washington Cy, NC. D. Washington Cty, NC., m Malissa Spruil

4. Harrison Libenas Phelps, B. 1870, Washington Cty, NC. D. 4 April 1933, Washington Cty, NC., m. Nancy Winifred Clifton

5. Zephaniah Henderson Phelps, B. 1891, Washington Cty, NC. D. 1964 Chowan Cty, NC.

6. Descendant Kit 157512 - CDY 40-40

A division of the property of Henry Phelps, deceased, ordered by the court July 1835, Washington County. Tenants in Common and Heirs at law who received a portion were: Jordan Henderson Phelps, Nehemiah H. Phelps, Levi N. Phelps, Joseph W. Phelps, Priscilla Phelps, Henry Phelps, Jacob W., Eliza and Charles T. Phelps

1. Jeremiah (Jerry) Phelps b. probably 1774, probably Tyrrell Co, NC d. aft 1850. Removed to Washington Co. by 1820 & Franklin Co, NC by 1840 (Comment: to ponder:: Could this Jeremiah be one of the Jeremiahs in the Cuthbert Phelps line below?) This possibility was considered 5/2018 and left as unmerged by 77645

2. Asa (B) Phelps bet 1808 &1810 Franklin Co, NC. d. Abt 1866. Last seen in Franklin Co, NC 1850. m. Tabitha Young

| 3. Smith Patrick Phelps b. 3/8/1851 Franklin Co, NC. d. 7/12/1926 Wake Co, NC. m. Martha Darien Wright

| 4. Leonard Eugene Phelps b 10/10/1888 Johnston Co, NC , d. 3/16/1965 Hoke Co, NC m Stella B Henderson

| 5. Descendant Kit 77645 111 markers CDY 40-40 This ancestry provided by kit 77645 and B. Freeman

2. Kearny/Carney Phelps b 1814 m. Elizabeth Young, Franklin Co, NC 1838

2. Third son b 1815-1819

2. Fourth son b. 1816-1820

2. Cassman Phelps (possibliy) b. 1820-1824

2. Nathaniel Phelps b c 1825 m. Nancy Wood 1846

Yellow indicates doubt or no proof; (my addition to your key follows) underlined name indicates which of multiple spouses is ancestor

1. Cuthbert Phelps b. abt. 1600 unk.; d. prob. bef. 1862; m. Mary [—?—] by 1624

2. Cuthbert Phelps, b. abt. 1624; d. bef. 11 July 1704 Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle County, NC; m. Frances [—?—] bef. February 1656/7

3. Cuthbert Phelps b. abt. 1665 Talbot County, MD; d. bef. 22 February 1740/1 Tyrrell County, NC; m. Susannah Spruill prob. late 1690's/early 1700's

4. James Phelps b. early 1700's prob. NE NC; d. bef. 17 February 1778 Tyrrell County, NC; m. Joanna [—?—] abt. 1730

5. Edward Phelps b. abt. 1731 prob. NE NC; d. bet. 21 February 1796 and April 1796; m. Mary [—?—] bef. 1765

6. Edward Phelps b. 25 April 1767, prob. Tyrrell County, NC; d. bef. 25 July 1831 prob. Washington County, NC; m. 1) Frances (Spruill) Smith 1 January 1793, 2) Mary [—?—] abt. 1805

7. Jeremiah Phelps b. 11 May 1795 Tyrrell County, NC; d. abt. 25 February 1849 Washington County, NC; m. Deborah Fortune bet. 1829-1831

8. (Rev.) Girard William Phelps b. 14 July 1832 Washington County, NC; d. 5 December 1918 Victoria, VA; m. Mary Randolph 25 Apr 1865

9. Ryland Thornton Phelps b. 17 March 1888 Greensville County, VA; d. 29 May 1981 Ocala FL;

m. 1) Mary Irene Morrison 19 October 1910 m. 2) Carolyn Margaret (Knapp) Peters 2 July 1934

10. Son Kit 471431 (111 markers CDY 40-40 BIG Y test ordered

11 . Son Kit 220418 (111 markers) CDY 40-40

Comment by kit 220418: Ancestors 1-6 above are from the Crowder article and lineage that researcher Cathy Roberts expanded on - this shows the intersection of my line with Cathy's list. I have "proven" my lineage back through James Phelps, and have found nothing to contradict or change what the Crowder's published for the line going back to Cuthbert.)

The following Phelps have CDY 40-41

1. Thomas Phelps b 1800 Bedford, VA d 1851 Platte, MO

2. William Henry Phelps b 1827 TN d. 1877 AR

3. John Walter Phelps b 18 Apr 1879 Wyaconda, Clark, MO d Apr 1965 Little Rock, Pulaski, AR

4. Ethan Allen (Jack) Phelps b 17 May 1904 Saline, AR d 24 Dec 1995 Reno,NV

5. Eugene Arvella Phelps, b. 1929, Arkansas, d. 1981 Nevada t

Descendant kit 329653 . Research is underway for the first two Phelps above. This line was originally thought to be of the Bedford Phelps line but is now uncertain and is being researched. (3/2014). CDY 40-41

- (Yellow indicates unsure at present)

1. William Phelps (Philps) b. about 1773 (Eng/NC/SC) - d. about 1828 (GA) m. Sophia Lee

2. William Phelps Jr. b. 1814 d. 5 Dec 1875 (TX) m. Christian Buchan 1834 GA

3. John Arthur Neal Phelps b. 14 Nov1849 (GA) d. 19 Feb 1888 (Caldwell, Burleson Co. TX) m. Nancy Keese 1874 (TX)

4. David Edgar Phelps b. 12 Feb 1883 (Burleson Co.,TX) - d. 14 Sep 1961 (Eureka, Humboldt Co., CA) m. Bertha Ida Ischy

| Descendant Kit 185712 CDY 40-41

4. James Madison Phelps b. 16 Jan 1884 (Georgetown, TX) d. 5 May 1956 (Eureka, Humboldt Co., CA), m. Ozona Belle Green 21 Jul 1909 (Giddings, TX)

Probable Irish origin and Related ydna Analysis.

My Prendergast male line is my most historically mysterious line. My earliest KNOWN male line ancestor was a John Prendergast. John first appears in the historical records at 16 (said he was 17 I think) when he enlisted in the IX New York Cavalry at Brooklyn in 1864. He served with then through the end of the War and his mustering out record says he was �born in Portland, Maine� and was a �photographer� (?!!?) before enlistment. He next appears marrying and joining the Chicago Fire Dept. in 1871. Years later, in affadavits connected with his application for his Civil War Pension, he stated that he was born 11/22/1847 in Portland, Maine. By her affadavit, we know he also had a sister who claimed to have been born in Portland, Maine in 1853 (or -56?). Nowhere do we find them ever stating their parents names but they always said (on the Census) that their parents were born in Ireland. Maine records are essentially silent on this family. Their is a John Prendergast in a Catholic Cemetery unmarked grave who died of consumption in 1855 who could have been their father. But that�s essentially it. The sister�s son stated on her death certificate that her father�s name was John, b. Ireland and mother�s name Katherine Rosedale, b. Mass.. Massachusetts records have NO Rosedales.

Because of this scanty paper trail for my male line, I have pursued Y chromosome genealogy to the max. STR matching, it turns out, has been a bit problematic for me because it turns out that I have a �P1-P3 Palindromic Deletion� of some the the palindromic (repeating) area at the end of the Y chromosome. This causes me to be entirely missing the allele sites where a few key markers are normally found. DYS448 is the most prominent one, which always appears as a �null� (0) for me. Several other STR markers that have multiple occurrences are missing SOME, but not all, their allele sites. This causes some of my STR counts for certain markers to be off by a large factor like x 0.5 or x 0.33, depending on how many of the allele sites for that marker are missing. The result for me has been that I have NO matches beyond 67 and no �close� by GD matches at 67.

The result of that is that I did the �Big-Y.� My closest SNP match on Big Y is a Phelps whose mdka is a Micajah Phelps. But I have a number of other Phelps in my �close� SNP matching. I have ported my data over to �Y-Full�. On there, none of my closer SNP matches has the name Phleps attached, but a number are anonymous.[As of 6/21/2018 no Phelps of this group has Big Y tested] Aging reveals that none of my SNP matches has a mrca closer than 1400 ybp.

In a recent development, I have found my first ever autosomal match that is PROBABLY connected to my Prendergast line. A man named Prendergast, whose father was born in Co. Galway, Ireland, has a weak to modest match with me. I�m trying to persuade him to do Y DNA but no luck so far.

So, barring unkown �NPEs�, which are always a wild card, I PROBABLY represent an Irish connection to your Phelps line that occurred back before the common use of surnames.

The table below used the free tool at http://www.mymcgee.com/tools/yutility111.html#Instructions

Omitted were two STRs due to 228288's unusual STR values: DYS448 and DYS589

Genetic Distance

Missing records of Washington, Tyrrell and Bertie counties

Draft version by Cathy Roberts 4/6/2012

During the 1800s, Washington County, NC had three separate courthouse fires and one destruction. The courthouse was considered 'destroyed' by bombardment in 1862, then there were fires in 1869, 1873 and 1881. The only record group that survived each thing were the deeds, and they do suspect that some of them might have been destroyed, but have no way to really tell - it's not like whole entire deed books are gone, just the chance that one or two deeds might have been damaged beyond repair.

So, outside of Bible records, church records, journals, letters, etc., there's nothing else.

George H. and I are trying to get permission to take digital images of the parish register for St. David's Church, which was an active Episcopal Church in Washington County during the 1800s. The register is on microfilm and available at the NC State Archives, but the images aren't very good and it's old. We think a new set of images would be clearer. There were some Phelps families who attended that church, including the family of Tom Phelps, the guy whose test results came in before this last one. The parish register includes baptisms, marriages and burials, both those done at the church cemetery and those who were done elsewhere, but involving members of the church.

The main records that would connect early Washington County births with their Tyrrell County ancestors - marriage bonds, wills, estate records - those are gone. My hope is that we can one day have enough men either from Washington County or with relatively recent roots there to be tested and at least help define the various family lines by the DNA results.

Over in Tyrrell County, and this isn't really too much of a problem for the Phelps who were there during this time period, they are missing the marriage licenses and part of the marriage register book from 1868 until around 1871ish. They think that the person who was overseeing things under Reconstruction made off with the books or never kept those records period. And again, from what I can tell, there weren't any Phelps marriages there during that time period.

Over in Bertie County, they've got the marriage registers, but not the marriage licenses from 1868 until 1903 or 1905. So, you can see who got married, their ages, where the marriage was performed and the witnesses, but not the names of the parents, as those weren't listed in the register. So, that does create some gap for the Phelps men in the James Phelps of Gates County line.

"A working theory for the heritage of these Phelps families" by Cathy Roberts,former Lineage Coordinator

2009 or early 2010

One of the working theories regarding the heritage of the Phelps families of Tyrrell and Washington Counties, NC is that they are all descended from Cuthbert Phelps and his wife, Frances (last name unknown), with Cuthbert being a son of Cuthbert and Mary Phelps, who first migrated into Maryland in 1654, along with sons Cuthbert and Darby (An alternate theory is that the Cuthbert who migrated to North Carolina was the same man who immigrated to Maryland, with Mary being his first wife and Frances his second wife. To date, there are not any facts to support or disprove either theory). While none of our lineages can yet connect back to Cuthbert Phelps, there are some valid reasons to believe that he is the progenitor for the majority, if not all, of the Phelps lines currently in, or from, those two counties.

Prior to moving to North Carolina, Cuthbert Phelps. and his family lived in Talbot County, Maryland. Cuthbert and Frances sold all of their lands (Cudlington, Cudlington's Addition, and Cudlington's Increase) to Thomas Impey, also of Talbot County, Maryland. The date of this sale was April 27, 1682.

In September of 1689, a letter-of-attorney was produced at the court in Talbot County, naming Archibald Greer of Albemarle County, NC as the 'true and lawful Attorney of Cuthbart Phelps." In January 1694/95, Cuthbert and Frances sold land in Albemarle County to Roger Snell, indicating that Cuthbert had been there long enough to have obtained the land.

On February 26, 1695/96, Cuthbert Phelps claimed 1,050 acres of land by right of importation into North Carolina of himself, his wife Frances, children Darby, Edward, Bartholomew, Priscilla, and Cuthbert, Jr., as well as others (21 people total). Early land records place Cuthbert and his family on the south side of the Albemarle Sound, at that time in what was Perquimans Precinct of Albemarle County. Later this same area was Chowan Precinct, and the area east of the Scuppernong River was known as Pasquotank Precinct. By 1729, the whole area became Tyrrell County (with Washington County being fully formed from Tyrrell County in 1799, and then more land annexed in 1801).

By 1704, Cuthbert Phelps was deceased. On July 11, 1704, the court of Perquimans Precinct, Albemarle County granted the administration of his estate to his widow, Frances Phelps. Also in 1704, another Phelps appears in that area, a man named Seth Phelps. It is not generally believed that Seth was an unnamed son of Cuthbert, but there is some circumstantial evidence to show that Seth Phelps was related in some way to Cuthbert and his sons. The first being that Seth named one of his sons Darby, which was not only the name of one of Cuthbert's sons, but also the name of Cuthbert's brother. So far, researchers have not yet determined what became of the older Darby Phelps, so it's possible that Seth is his son or grandson - it's also possible that Seth is a grandson of Cuthbert's.

And so, as of 1704, there were 5 males with the surname of Phelps, all living in the same geographical area on the south side of Albemarle Sound. Four of them were Cuthbert's sons, Darby, Edward, Bartholomew and Cuthbert, and the fifth one was Seth Phelps. This gives us the possibilities that all of the current day Phelps families of, or from that area, are descended from more than one of these men.

In their article, "The Cuthbert Phelps Family Of Early Maryland And North Carolina" by Thomas Warren Crowder and Phyllis Hoggatt Crowder, the authors attempted to trace forward from Cuthbert's sons. They were able to find evidence that two of the sons had married and had sons - Edward and Cuthbert. They could not find anything showing that Bartholomew and Darby had fathered sons. They also found that Seth Phelps had two sons. Of the two who had sons, there is more information about the children of Cuthbert than there is of Edward's descendants.

As a quick overview, Edward had at least one son, also named Edward. This younger Edward had apparently divested himself of his land by 1742, and it is not yet known what became of him. Nor is it known if he had any siblings.

Cuthbert Phelps married Susannah Spruill, a daughter of Dr. Godfrey Spruill, and they had several children. From the records reviewed by Thomas and Phyllis Crowder, they determined that the following were sons of Cuthbert and Susannah Spruill Phelps: Edward, James, Godfrey, Joshua, and probably John and Joseph Phelps. The Crowder's found evidence of sons for each of those men except for Joseph Phelps.

Seth Phelps had two sons, Darby and George. Court records indicate that Darby had at least two daughters, as they were apparently minors at the time of his death in 1754. George Phelps died in 1745, and later records seem to indicate that he had at least one son, Seth Phelps. As mentioned in the article:

"Recorded in the Tyrrell Co., processioners' book for 1747/8 is: 'Seth Phelps, son of George deceast,' processioned for 150 acres, land on the 'east side of Scopperlong River to Clay's Creek."

So, what does all of that mean for those of us who can trace our Phelps ancestors back to the Tyrrell County area of North Carolina? For some of us, it means that we might find our Most Recent Common Ancestor at the beginning of the 1700s, and that Cuthbert and Frances Phelps might be the MRCAs for us. For others of us, our MRCA is much closer in time. Only by finding more Phelps descendants will we get a more definite picture of just who and when, we'll find our MRCA.

If you look at one of your 'cousins' at the Phelps Surname Project, and see that your MRCA is over 7 generations ago, then you might want to look at the early Phelps inhabitants of the region for that MRCA. This is where a good and solid paper trail will be a vital partner to the YDNA testing. I know that many of us have hit brick walls with our research, and right now have only the YDNA results to work with, but hopefully the research done by the Crowder's can help some of us find other avenues of research and assist us in taking our paper trails even further back in time than we've been able to take them so far.

A short lineage and a longer lineage for Seth Phelps has been added to this site here . The fuller lineage is a combination of the work done by Thomas and Phyllis Crowder and myself.

Sources for the names of the descendants of Cuthbert and Mary Phelps can be found in the Crowder's article. The article was published in "The Genealogist", Volume 23, No. 1, Spring 2009, Picton Press. "The Genealogist" is published for The American Society of Genealogist, and copies of "The Genealogist" can be purchased directly from The American Society of Genealogists: http://www.fasg.org/TheGenealogist.html